Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly



Oct. 20, 1964 c. w. ANDERSEN 3,153,432

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A PIANO REGULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 g l E54 336 INVENTOR Oct. 20, 1964 c. w. ANDERSEN 3,153,432

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A PIANO REGULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 .fi/ J70 140 36 rams INVENTOR.

04%, W awzzw Oct. 20, 1964 w. ANDERSEN 3,153,432

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A PIANO REGULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 20, 1964 c. w. ANDERSEN 3,153,432

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A PIANO REGULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY Filed June 19, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5w 31g INVENTOR Cg flrd 1% Milf'fl United States Patent "Ice 3,153,432 APPARATUS FOR MAKHQG A PIAND GULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY Qiifiord W. Andersen, De Kath, TIL, assignor to The ggllil'iitlei Company, Chicago, 1th, a corporation of Filed June 19, 196$, Ser. No. 288,971 14 Claims. ((3. 144-3) This invention relates generally to the manufacture of pianos and analogous musical instruments and relates more particulaly t-o apparatus for making the assembly known as a regulating rail.

According to one conventional mode of arranging a piano action assembly for the adjustment of fly escapement, a wooden bar or rail is extended through the body of the instrument at a position overlying the laterally offset heel portions of the jacks or flies that are incorporated in the aligned action mechanisms. Eye screws are employed in adjustably mounting felt covered buttons to this regulating rail for coaction individually with the respective flies; and heretofore, the regulating rail assembly has been produced by use of a machine in which the rail was indexed from a drilling station to a subsequent buttonmounting station. At the first station, pilot holes were bored in the rail by means of a vertical drill operated from a position beneath the rail; and at the second station, the buttons were situated one at a time with respect to the pilot holes and an eye screw driven through the rail into the button to some random depth. Thereafter, the rail was removed from the machine and the felt pads were glued to the buttons in a separate, manual operation. This separate operation for attaching the felt pads has proved to involve an inordinate amount of-handling and has required that excessive quantities of factory floor space be devoted to the production of regulating rail assemblies. However, the manual attachment of the felt pads has been necessary heretofore in order to comepnsate for the random positioning of the eye screws and in order to obtain a satisfactory job of felt mounting.

Therefore, an important object of the present invention is to provide a single machine which performs all of the assembly operation necessary to complete a piano regulating structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a machine that is both compact in nature and economical to operate.

A more general object of the invention is to provide new and improved apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly in which the mounting of the buttons is arranged to promote accuracy in subsequent attachment of the felt pads.

A yet further object of the invention is to provide apparatus for making a piano regulating assembly which apparatus is arranged to seat the eye screws to a uniform depth.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following disclosure.

Apparatus in accord with the invention includes a rotatable chuck for supporting a rail element in a number of arcuately spaced positions and an indexing arrangement for axially stepwise advancing the chuck along a work path. A drill is aligned tangentially of thecircle the chuck. Processwise subsequent to the drill, there is included a button positioning arrangement both for'trans- BJEEABZ Patented Get. 20, 1964 porting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with a second one of the arcuately spaced positions of the rail element and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw. An eye screw mounting arrangement is incorporated for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button. The apparatus of the invention also includes a felt mounting arrangement which is aligned with yet another one of the arcuately spaced positions of the rail element processwise subsequent to the eye screw mounting arrangement for applying adhesive to the mounted buttons and pressing felt pads into contact with the adhesive coated buttons whereby to complete the regulating rail assembly.

The invention, both to its structure and mode of operation, will be better understood by reference to the following disclosure and drawings forming a pair thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a machine constructed in compliance with the invention for use in making a piano regulating rail assembly;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, side elevational view of the indexing drive arrangement used in the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, side elevational view taken substantially through the section 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, end elevational view taken substantially through the section 4-4 of FIG..1 and showing the operation of the basic work elements of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, sectional view taken substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, elevational view of the button positioning arrangement and the eye screw mounting arrangement used in the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view taken substantially along the line 10-1ti of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged, elevational view of the eye screw mounting arrangement and the cooperating eye screw feed mechanism used in the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the gripping and delivering jaws used in the eye screw mounting arrangement, the jaws being shown in positionfor receipt of an eye screw from the feed mechanism; and

FIG. 13 is a view similar to the showingof FIG. 12 but illustrating advance of the jaws for delivering of an eye screw to the regulating rail element being worked upon.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, specifically to FIG. 1, a machine for making a piano regulating rail assembly is seen indicated generally by the numeral 20. The machine 20 includes a rotatable chuck 22, an indexing drive 24, a button positioning arrangement 26, an

eye screw mounting arrangement 28 and a felt mounting arrangement 30. The machine 20 also includes a drill arrangement 32 which is shown in FIG. 4.

The chuck 22 comprises, in the illustrated embodiment, four axially elongated, radially extending arms 34 which are disposed in right angular relationship and which are interconnected by triangular webs 36. The chuck 22 additionally includes a clamp unit 33 on the end of each of the arms 34 for use in holding a rail element 40 thereon as is shown in FIG. 4. The rail element 49 constitutes a long wooden member of either square or rectangular section, and the clampunits 38 individually V comprise a pair of plates42 which are attached to the opposite sides of an arm 34 togrip a rail element 40 between their cantilevered ends. The plates 4-2 may be fabricated from spring metal to grip the rail element in a resilient fashion, or they may be made from a rigid material in which case they will be releasably mounted to the respective arm 34 for attaching and detaching the rail element. Considering FIG. 4 in conjunction with FIG, 6 the plates 42 are seen to be fashioned with appropriately sized, U-shaped notches or apertures 4-4 which open laterally of the respective plate and radially with respect tothe arm 34 of the chuck for ease in releasing a rail element 40 after eye screws have been used to secure a number of regulating rail buttons to the rail element. It is recognized that the apertures 44 also facilitate seating of the buttons and the eye screws while the rail element is gripped by the clamp unit.

Returning to FIG. 1, the chuck 22 is seen superposed on a table 46 by a pair of horizontally spaced mounting brackets one of which is indicated by the numeral 48 and the other of which is not shown, the brackets 43 being fastened to the table 46 by bolts 50 or other suitable means. The table 46 is mounted for horizontal movements on a pair of tracks 52; and the indexingdrive 24 includes an endless chain 54 which is connected to the table 46 by a manually operated clutch or other equiv alent means. The drive 24 is arranged for stepwise advancing the table 46 and thereby the chuck 22 along a work path, this stepwise advancing movement being in a horizontal direction generally parallel to the axis of the chuck 22. Considering FIG. 1 with the secondary reference to PEG. 2, the indexing drive 24 is seen to comprise an electric motor 56 which is enclosed by a housing 58. The output shaft of motor 56 has a relatively small diameter gear 60 fixed thereon, and gear 66 meshes with a relatively large diameter gear 62 for effectuating a speed reduction of the output from motor 56. A drive disc 64 is fastened to a shaft 65 which is also used for the mounting of gear 62.

The chain 54 engages a sprocket 58 that is enclosed in housing 53, and a corresponding sprocket, not shown, is mounted on an idler shaft at the opposite end of the machine 20 for completing the support of drive chain 54. A ratchet 7th is fastened to the side of sprocket 68, and a link 72 is freely rotatably mounted on a shaft 74 by which the sprocket 68 is supported. To complete the mechanical connection between drive disc 64 and drive chain 54, the opposite ends of a crank 76 are pivoted to link 72 and at an eccentric location on disc 64. Furthermore, a pawl 73 is pivoted to the crank '76 at its connection with the link 72 to cooperate with the ratchet 79. Advantageously, a leaf spring 80 acts between the link '72 and the pawl '75 to bias the pawl into engagement with the ratchet '74 It will be recognized that an energization of motor 56 results in a rotation of disc 64, and the powered motion of disc 64 causes a stepping action of the chain 5 through interaction of the crank '76, the link '72, the pawl '73 and the ratchet '70. The mounting position of crank '76 relative to the center of drive disc M and the size and the arrangement of ratchet 7% are selected so that the increments of travel of the table 46 and thereby the chuck 22 correspond to the center line spacing of immediately adjacent regulating buttons.

"In compliance with the invention, the chuck 22 is made rotatable for supporting a rail element 44 in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; and pursuant to this objective, the chuck 22 is journaled to the brackets dtiby means of stub shafts d2 as is shown in FIG. 3.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 3 and with additional reference to FIG. 1, a four-position ratchet 84 is mounted to the stub shaft 82 spaced from the outside face of bracket 48, the four notches which are fashioned in ratchet 84 coinciding in radial position with the locations of the arms 34 of the chuck. A hand crank 86 is fastened to the ratchet 8d coaxially with the shafts 82 1 for use in rotating the chuck 22, and a manually releas v,4. able locking pawl 88 is pivotally mounted to the bracket 48 by a pin 91'). The pawl 88 is provided with a tooth 92 that matably fits into the notches formed in the ratchet 34 for use in positively locating the chuck 22 in the four arcuately spaced positions defined by these notches and by the cooperative positioning of the pawl 88. If desired, a spring or other biasing means may be provided in conjunction with the pawl 88 for use in preventing disruption of a selected positioning of the chuck 22.

The coaction of ratchet 84 and pawl 88 defines four arcuately spaced positions for the rotatable chuck 22. There are a corresponding number of rail-receiving arms 34 on the chuck whereby to define a suitable number of work positions so that all of the assembly operations on a given regulating rail may be completed before the rail is removed from the machine 20. Furthermore, one indexing operation is thus made common to several work operations. Compactness of equipment and economy of operation result.

Considering FIG. 4 once again and assuming that the chuck 22 will be rotated in the direction of arrow 94 by the hand crank which is indicated in FIG. 1 by the numeral as, the drill arrangement 32 may be considered to define a first work station; and the button positioning arrangement 26 and the eye screw mounting arrangement 28 may be considered as establishing a second work station arcuately ninety degrees subsequent to the work station defined by drill arrangement 32. Similarly the felt mounting arrangement 30 may be considered as defining a third work operation arcuately spaced onehundred-and-eighty degrees from the second work station. .The arcuate position of the arms 34 of the chuck which is processwise intermediate the second and third work stations may be considered as an inactive station or as an inspection station for use in checking the work performed at the second station before it is passed to the third station for completion of the assembly operation.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the drill arrangement 32 is seen aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of the chuck 22 for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to the first work position of the chuck. More specifically, the drill arrangement 32 includes a twistvdrill bit 96 that is rotated at high speed by a motor 93. Motor 93 may be energized by electricity, air, or other suitable means. Moreover, the motor 98 is mounted for horizontally reciprocablc movements by means of a pneumatic jack 1%, the jack 1% including an extensible and retractable piston 102 which is connected to the motor 98 for advancing the drill bit 96 into boring engagement with the rail 4t) and for retracting the bit therefrom. Upon stepwise advance of the chuck 22 along its axis, this action of the drill arrangement 32 produces a series of parallel pilot holes 194 in the rail element 41' the holes 1% being spaced by the distance which it is desired to space the regulating rail buttons.

Turning to PEG-S. 8-10 for a more detailed description of the button positioning arrangement 26, a button feed chute indicated generally by the numeral 106 will be seen to include a declined feed section 1&8 and a horizontal hold section lit). Asis best shown in FIG. 10, the chute res includes spaced, opposed sides 112 which form a channel to guide and pass a series of wooden regulating buttons 114 in oriented relationship. The floor of the horizontal hold section of the chute 1% is slotted to pass a reciprocal advance element 116, element 116 being provided with upstanding, forwardly slanted teeth 113 which aggressively engaged the buttons 114 for advance thereof but which slide past the bottoms of the buttons upon retraction of the element 115. A pneuand the position of rail element 40 at the second work station. The jaw unit 126 serves to transport a regulating button 114 into lateral juxtaposition with the rail element 40 at the second work station and additionally serves to support the button against the thrust of an entering eye screw. More particularly, the jaw unit 126 includes a pair of jaw elements 128 which are hinged together by means of a pivot pin 13h, as'is shown in FIG. 9; and the jaw elements 128 are provided with opposed, semi-cylindrical recesses 132 for gripping a button 114 therebetween. The button positioning arrangement 26 also includes a carrier 134 which is fashioned with a guide channel or hollow 136, best shown in FIG. 9, for receiving the jaw unit 126. A pneumatic jack 138 is fastened to the carrier 134 by a mounting formation 140, and the jack 138 incorporates an extensible and retractable piston 142 which is connected to the pivot pin 130 by a yoke member 144. Thus, the jack 138 may be actuated to raise and lower the jaw unit 126 selectively with respect to the carrier 134. In order to cause a converging of the jaw elements 128 upon their upward movement under the influence of jack 138, carrier 134 is fashioned with cam surfaces 146 which are arranged to confront cooperating cam surfaces 148 formed respectively on the jaw elements 128; and in order to bias the jaw elements 128 normally into diverged relationship, a compression spring 150 is situated between the jaw elements with its ends located in confronting recesses 152.

The carrier 134 is arranged for independent, oscillatable movement in a horizontal direction between the button feed chute 106 and the second work station that is defined by the arms of chuck 22. For this purpose, the carrier 134 is provided with a vertically disposed plate 154 which extends generally toward the structural plate 121 as is shown in FIG. 8. The plate 154 is adapted for horizontally slidable movement relative to an adjacent structural formation 156; and advantageously, a dovetail slide or other suitable guiding element acts between the formation 156 and the plate 154 for directing the horizontal movements of the carrier 134. The plate 154 is also fashioned with a rearwardly opening notch 158;

and an L-shaped bracket 160 is connected to the formation 156, as by bolts 162, the portion of bracket 160 which isdisposed coplanarly with respect to the confronting face of formation 156 being disposed generally within the confines of notch 158. A pneumatic jack 164 is mounted on the deflected portion of bracket 160, jack 164 including an extensible and retractable piston 166 which is secured to the carrier 134 for causing the horizontally oscillatable movements thereof.

While the button positioning arrangement 26 acts to situate a regulating rail button closely adjacent one lateral side'of a rail element 40 located at the'second work position, the eye screw mounting arrangement 28 is adapted to deliver an eye screw into alignment with the pilot hole 104 and on the side of the rail element opposite the button. The eye screw mounting arrangement is further adapted for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and intothe transported button. Turning to FIGS. 11-13 for a more detailed description of the eye screw mounting arrangement, an eye screw feeding unit 168 is seen receiving eye screws 170 from a conveyor wire 172 that is threaded through the eyes of the several eye screws for orienting the same. The eye screws 170 pass down the wire 172 under the influence of gravity into 172, and the finger 176 is reciprocated in a selective manner by means of a single-acting pneumatic jack 178.

Normally, the finger 1'76 abuttingly contacts the end of wire 172. However, the jack 178 is arranged for retracting the finger 176 to permit an eye screw 17% to pass off of the end of the wire 172 and drop vertically therefrom. Upon such retraction of the finger 176, a piston 162 acts to deliver a released eye screw to a receptacle 184 that is situated beneath the end of wire 1'72 and that is provided with fingers 186 which are spaced for passing theshank of the eye screw and for holding the eye screw at the eye thereof. The piston 182 is operated by means of a pneumatic jack 188 whose operation is synchronized with the operation of jack 178.

The eye screws 176 are transported one at a time from the receptacle 184 to the position overlying the rail elemerit 40 by an oscillatable jaw unit 191 The jaw unit 196 comprises a pair of jaw elements 12 which are hinged together by means of a pivot pin 194 as is best shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The jaw elements 192 are fur-ther fashioned at their forward ends with opposed slots 195 for gripping the shank of an eye screw 170 therebetween; and in order to reciprocate the jaw elements 192 between the receptacle 184 and the second work station, the jaw elements are arranged to be guided by track members 196, and the pivot pin 194 is connected to an extensible and retractable piston 198 by means of a U-shaped bracket or yoke 2th). The piston 198 is actuated by means of a pneumatic jack 2112 that is mounted on a structural support 204 as is shown in FIG. 1. Returning to FIGS. 12 and 13, the jaw elements 192 are normally biased apart by a compression spring 266, the

ends of which are situated in recesses 293 opening from confronting faces of the jaw elements; and in order to overcome the bias of spring 296 and converge the jaw elements 192 for gripping the shank of an eye screw 17%, the respective jaw elements are provided with cam surfaces 216, and cam posts 212 are mounted adjacent the ends of track members 196 for cooperation with the cam surfaces 216. As is well shown in FIG. 13, the jaw elements 192 are provided with second cam surfaces 214 which cooperate with the cam posts 212 to preserve the jaw elements in converged relationship upon extension thereof toward the rail element 46.

With reference once again to FIG. 11, the jaw unit 1913 is to be noted as acting to pick up an eye screw 170 from the receptacle 184 whereby to transport the eye screw thereafter to the position shown in broken outline overlying the pilot hole 104 which has been fashioned in the rail element 40. In order to drive the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported regulating rail button, the eye screw mounting arrangement 28 incorporates a rotatable and vertically oscillatable driving tool 216. The tool 216 is arranged for advancing and withdrawing movements in a path which is aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of the chuck 22 at the second work position for aggressively engaging the eye screw which is carried by the jaw unit 190. With reference to FIG. 1, the tool 216 is seen connected coaxially with a lead screw 213, and a nut 220 is afiixed to the housing of feed unit 168 for threadedly receiving the lead screw; A pneumatic jack or cylinder 222 is arranged with the lead screw 218, the jack 222 including an extensible and retractable piston 224 that is rotatably coupled to the lead screw 218 by a fitting 226. Thus, advance and wihdrawalof the tool 216 is achieved simultaneously with rotation thereof by respective extension and retraction of the piston 224.

By virtue of the fact that the jaw unit 1913 always picks up an eye screw 17% from the receptacle 184 in the same relative position of orientation and by virtue of the fact that a uniform number of turns of the tool 216 are achieved by the stroke of piston 224, the eye screws 17% are seated to a uniform depth in the rail element 40 and in the regulating rail button 214 alignedtherewith. More-- 6 over, the eyes of the several eye screws which are assembled to the rail element iii are aligned in the same position relative to each other. This uniformity in the positioning of the eye screws and the regulating rail buttons is well illustrated in FIG. and the substantial identity in the positioning of the eyes of the screws gives a simple visual indication of the uniformity in the depth of screw seating. Furthermore, the uniformity in the depth of screw seating which is achieved by regulating the operation of tool 216 positions the rail buttons uniformly whereby to promote accuracy in the subsequent adhesive attachment of the felt pads.

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 4-7 for a more detailed description of the felt mounting arrangement 3%, a felt pad feed chute 228 is shown combined with a felt pad delivering shoe 2311, an adhesive dispenser 232 and a press piston 234. 'A number of shallow cylindrical or disc-like felt pads 22% are fed one at a time down the chute 223 under the influence of gravity and preferably with an air assist. These felt pads are passed from the chute 228 to the delivery shoe 259; and as will be seen in FIG. 6, the shoe 231i is fashioned with an aperture 238 which opens from the top and bottom surfaces of the shoe and which is sized to pass both one of the pads 236 and the press piston 234. If desired, the upper surface of the shoe 230 may be fashioned with an elongated slot 246 for permitting visual inspection of the presence of the felt pads in the shoe and for manually rectifying any stoppages that might accidentally occur. The felt mounting arrangementfiu is advantageously located along the work path at a point which allows the chuck 22 to clearit when the chuck is in position for rotation.

The press piston 234 comprises asolid cylindrical element which is fixed to the adhesive dispenser 232 by means of a common press head 242 as is shown in FIG. 5. The press piston and the adhesive dispenser are aligned parallel with the work. path along which the rail element is indexed, and the press head 242 is arranged for movement toward and away from the third work station by being attached to the piston of a pneumatic jack 244 shown in FIG. 1.

Adhesive material is led to the dispenser 232 from a suitable source of supply by means of a conduit 246 indicated in FIG. 1; and this conduit is connected to a reservoir chamber 248 by means of a passageway 250 formed in the press head 242 as is shown in FIG. 5.

Within the reservoir chamber 248, a compression spring 252 biases a parabolic valve element 254 into closing relationship relative to the opening in an orifice plate 25%. Accordingly, when the press head 242 is lowered so as to bring the valve element 254 into aggressive engagement with :a regulating button 114, the valve element moves against the resilient force of the spring 252 opening the aperture in the orifice plate 255 and allowing the passage of adhesive material from the reservoir chamber 243 to the top surface of the regulating rail button. A quantity of adhesive material which has flowed over the top of the regulating rail buttons is indicated by the numeral 258 in FIGS. 5 and 6. Due to the serial arrangement of the press piston 234 and the adhesive dispenser 232, the felt pads 236 are driven from the shoe 23% into forcible con-. tact with the adhesive material 258 after the adhesive material has been applied to the regulating buttons 114 by the adhesive dispenser 232.

Having thus described one construction of the invention, it is important now to state how the illustrated embodiment operates, assuming that the table 46 has been drawn toward the indexing drive 24- for stepwise advance therefrom and assuming that a regulating rail element it? has been mounted in the clamp unit 33 that is disposed on the lowermost of the arms 34- of chuck 22, is in the first of the arcuate positions, it will be understood that stepwise advance of table 46 carries the chuck 22 and thereby this newly mounted rail element 46 through the first work station; There, operation of the drill arrangebroken outline in FIG. 8.

ment 32 will produce a series of the pilot holes 184 in the rail element.

When the last of these pilot holes has been bored in the rail element, the chuck 22 will have reached the end of its work path. Whereupon the pawl 88 will be released 7 to allow rotation of the chuck ninety degrees by means of the crank 86. Thereafter, the pawl 88 will be reengaged with the ratchet S4, and the table 46 will be retracted again to a position closely spaced from the indexing drive 24 for a second sequence of stepwise movements along the work path. This second sequence of indexing movements will step the rail element through the second work station where the button positioning arrangement 26 and the eye screw mounting arrangement 28 will effectuate assembly of the eye screws and the buttons to the rail element at the pilot holes 104 which have been previously bored.

Considering FIG. 8, it will be apparent that the jaw unit 126 will be urged upwardly adjacent the end of chute 1% by means of the jack 138 just as a button 114 is being pushed from the end of the chute by means of the jack 128. Accordingly, the jaw elements 128 will catch and grip the discharged button 114 between the formations 132. Thereafter, the jack 164 will be actuated to translate the carrier 134 and the jaw unit 126 toward the rail element 40 which is positioned at the second work station. At approximately the same time that the carrier 134 is being so moved, the jack 202 will be actuated to cause the jaw unit 1951 to grip and pick up an eye screw from the receptacle 184 and thereafter deliver the eye screw to the position shown in broken outline in FIG. 11. Then, the jack 222 will be actuated to lower and rotate the tool 216 into aggressive contact with the eye of the screw 176, driving the screw into the rail element 40 and thereafter into the button 114 which is supported against the thrust of the entering eye screw by means of the continued presence of jaw unit 126. As the eye screw begins to enter the rail element 40, the jaw unit will be retracted by the action of jack 202 so that the tips of the jaw elements 192 do not interfere with complete positioning of the eye screw. The U-shaped aperture which is defined in the ends of the jaw elements 192 by the confronting slots 195 allows this retraction of the jaws and a concomitantstripping of the eye screw from the grip thereof. 0n the other hand, the formations 132 which are fashioned in the jaws 128 firmly grip the regulating rail button 114 and prevent its rotation upon being encountered by the entering eye screw. Thus, the controlled rotation and advance of the tool 216 seats the eye screw to a uniform depth and in a uniform position relative tothe rail element 40 while, at the same time, the button 114 is maintained in precise position relative to the rail element in order to promote accuracy in the subsequent felt pad applying operation. After the eye screw has been seated in the button 114, the jack 138 will be actuated to retract the jaw unit 126 releasing the regulating rail button 114 and permitting retraction of the carrier 134 to its position underlying the end of chute 106. The retracted condition of the jaw unit 125 and the advanced condition of the carrier 134 is' shown in It is to be recognized that this sequence of operations will be repeated each time that the rail element 40 is advanced a step by means of indexing drive 24.

When the assembly of the eye screws and thebuttons has been completed, the pawl 88 will be released once again. and the chuck 22 rotated through another ninety degrees, thus bringing a fresh rail element into position for work operations at the first work station by means of the drill arrangement 32 and at the second work station by means of the button positioning arrangement 26 and the eye screw mounting arrangement 28. As these subsequent rail elements are being worked on, tho first describedrail element will reside in the uppermost position shown in FIG. 4 where no work will be performed although visual inspectionsmay be readily had. At the end ofthis third stepwise traverse of the chuck 22, the pawl 88 will be released still another time to permit a final rotation of the chuck through a third angle of ninety degrees, bringing the first described rail element it? into position for final processing.

When the table 46 has been brought to starting position, the indexing drive 24 will again act to step the table element, the chuck and the regulating rails through the work path; and the first described rail element at will now have the felt pads 236 adhesively secured to the previously mounted buttons 114. t is to be recognized that the press head 242 will be lowered when the rail element 49 has been brought to a stop by the indexing drive, and adhesive material 258 will be delivered from the adhesive dispenser 232. Next, a felt pad 236 will be pressed against a button 114 which has been previously coated with the adhesive material 258. Of course, a continuous supply of the felt pads will be delivered to the aperture 238 in the end of the shoe 234) for continuous operation of the machine 20. When all of the buttons 114 have had felt pads 236 secured thereto, the first described rail element 49 will be removed from the machine 20 as it will now comprise a completed regulated rail assembly. Finally, a fresh rail element 40 will be put into position; and the cycle repeated.

The specific example herein shown and described is to be considered as being primarily illustrative. Various changes in structure will, no doubt, occur to those skilled in the art; and such changes are to be understood as forming a part of this invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; drill means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means and mounted for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to one of said arcuately spaced positions for boring a series of parallel pilot holes in said rail element upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element at a said pilot hole and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with one of said arcuately spaced positions including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applyand mounted for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to a first one of said arcuately spaced positions for boringa series of parallel pilot holes in said rail element upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; button positioning means arranged for both transporting a regulating button into lateral juxtaposition with a second one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both fordelivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element at a' said pilot hole and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with a third one of said arcuately spaced positions including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pad to the regulating rail buttons.

3. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembiy, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions, including a plurality of axially elongated, radially extending arms and clamp means on each of said arms for holding a rail element thereon; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; drill means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means and mounted for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to one of said arcuately spaced positions for boring a series of parallel pilot holes in said rail element upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element at a said pilot hole and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with one of said arcuately spaced positions, including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pads to the regulating rail buttons.

4. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions, including a plurality of axially elongated, radially extending arms and clamp means on the outer end of each of said arms for holding a rail element thereon; indexing means for axially stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; drill means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means and mounted for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to one of said arcuately spaced positions for boring a series of parallel pilot holes in said rail element upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail but ton into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spacedpositions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element at a said pilot hole and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with one of said arcuately spaced positions, including felt pad de- V ly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw, including oscillatable and convergible jaws having opposed, button gripping formations and an independently oscillatable carrier for said jaws; eye screw mounting means arranged for both delivering an eye screw into alignment with a terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with one of said arcuately spaced positions, including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged for both delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button, including releasibly gripping means for an eye screw mounted to move toward and away from a location laterally juxtaposed with respect to said one arcuately spaced position on the side thereof opposite to the location of said transported button and further including an advanceable and withdrawable means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means at said one position for aggressively engaging an eye screw carried by said gripping means; and felt mounting means aligned with a second one of said arcuately spaced position, including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pads to the regulating rail buttons.

8. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assernbly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with a terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with the second one of said arcuately spaced positions, including adhesive applying means and a press member aligned parallel with said work path,

said adhesive applying means and said press member being fixed together for movement in unison toward and away from said second arcuately spaced position, said felt mounting means further including channel means for a felt pad having an aperture that is aligned with said press member and that is sized to pass both said press member and a felt pad driven thereby, said press member and said channel means being situated subsequent to said adhesive applying means along said work path, whereby adhesive is applied to the mounted buttons and felt pads are pressedthereafter into contact with the adhesive coated buttons.

9. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positionsand for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw, including oscillatable and convergible jaws having opposed, button gripping formations and an independently oscillatable carrier for said jaws; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button, including releasibly gripping means for an eye screw mounted to move toward and away from a location laterally juxtaposed with respect to said one position on the side thereof opposite to the location of the transported button and further including advanceable withdrawable means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means at said one position for aggressively engaging an eye screw carried by said gripping means; and felt mounting means aligned with a second one of said arcuately spaced positions and including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pads to the regulating rail buttons.

10. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for-stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting aregulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw, including oscillatable and convergible jaws having opposed, button gripping formations and an independently oscillatable carrier for said jaws; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button; and felt mounting means aligned with a second one of said arcuately, including adhesive applying means and a press member aligned parallel with said work path, said adhesive applying means and said press member being fixed together for a movement in unison toward and away from said second arcuately spaced position, said felt mounting means further including channel means for a felt pad having an aperture that is aligned with said press member and that is sized to pass both said press member and a felt pad driven thereby, said press member and said channel means being situated subsequent to said adhesive applying means along said work path, whereby adhesive is applied to the mounted buttons and felt pads are pressed thereafter into contact With the adhesive coated buttons.

, 11. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions, including a plurality of axially elongated, radially extending arms and clamp means on each of said arms for holding a rail element thereon, said clamp means having laterally opening apertures for releasing a said rail after eye screws have been used to secure regulating rail buttons thereto; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button, including releasibly gripping means for an eye screw mounted to move toward and awayfrom a location laterally juxtaposed with respect to said one arcuately spaced position on the side thereof opposite to the location of said transported button and further including advanceable and withdrawable means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck meansat said one position for aggressively engaging an eye screw carried'by said gripping means; and felt'moun'ting means aligned with a second one of said arcuately spaced positions and including felt pad delivering means, adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pads to the regulating rail buttons.

12. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail'as- 7 i3 sembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for axially stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; drill means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means and mounted for advancing and withdrawing movements relative to a first one of said arcuately spaced positions for boring a series of parallel pilot holes in said rail element upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with a second one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw, including oscillatable and convergible jaws having opposed, button gripping formations and an independently oscillatable carrier for said jaws,

said jaws and said carrier having cooperating cam surfaces for converging said jaws upon relative oscillating movement between said jaws and said carrier; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with the terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element at a pilot hole thereof and into the transported button, including releasibly gripping means for an eye screw mounted to move toward and away from a location laterally juxtaposed with respect to said second arcuately spaced position on the side thereof opposite the location of said transported button and further including advanceable and withdrawable means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means at said second position for aggressively engaging an eye screw carried by said gripping means; and felt mounting means aligned with a third one of said arcuately spaced positions; including adhesive applying means and a press member aligned parallel with the work path, said adhesive applying means and said press member being fixed together for movement in unison toward and away from said third arcuately spaced position, said felt mounting means further including channel means for a felt pad having an aperture that is aligned with said press member and that is sized to pass both said press member at a felt pad driven thereby, said press member and said channel means being situated subsequent to adhesive applying means along said work path, whereby adhesive is applied to the mounted buttons and felt pads are pressed thereafter into contact with the adhesive coated buttons.

13. Apparatus for making a piano regulating rail assembly, said apparatus comprising: rotatable chuck means for supporting a rail element in a plurality of arcuately spaced positions; indexing means for stepwise advancing said chuck means along a work path; button positioning means arranged both for transporting a regulating rail button into lateral juxtaposition with one of said arcuately spaced positions and for supporting the transported button against the thrust of an entering eye screw; eye screw mounting means arranged both for delivering an eye screw into alignment with a terminal position of the transported button and for driving the delivered eye screw into the rail element and into the transported button, including eye screw feeding means delivering eye screws in oriented condition, releasibly gripping means for receiving an eye screw from said feeding means and mounted to move toward and away from a location laterally juxtaposed with respect to said one arcuately spaced position on the side thereof opposite .to the location of said transported button, advanceable and withdrawable means aligned tangentially of the circle of movement of said chuck means at said one position for aggressively engaging an eye screw carried by said gripping means, and drive means for said advanceable and withdrawable means arranged to rotate said last mentioned means a predetermined number of revolutions and to advance said last mentioned means a predetermined distance whereby to seat said eye screws to a uniform depth and with the eyes thereof in uniform position upon stepwise advance of said chuck means; and felt mounting means aligned with a second one of said arouately spaced positions, including felt pad delivering means,

adhesive applying means and a press member cooperating to secure felt pads to the mounted regulating rail buttons.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said drive means includes a lead screw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 626,502 Neville June 6, 1899 1,842,830 Holmes Jan. 26, 1932 2,746,079 n May 22, 1956 

1. APPARATUS FOR MAKING A PIANO REGULATING RAIL ASSEMBLY, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING: ROTATABLE CHUCK MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A RAIL ELEMENT IN A PLURALITY OF ARCUATELY SPACED POSITIONS; INDEXING MEANS FOR STEPWISE ADVANCING SAID CHUCK MEANS ALONG A WORK PATH; DRILL MEANS ALIGNED TANGENTIALLY OF THE CIRCLE OF MOVEMENT OF SAID CHUCK MEANS AND MOUNTED FOR ADVANCING AND WITHDRAWING MOVEMENTS RELATIVE TO ONE OF SAID ARCUATELY SPACED POSITIONS FOR BORING A SERIES OF PARALLEL PILOT HOLES IN SAID RAIL ELEMENT UPON STEPWISE ADVANCE OF SAID CHUCK MEANS; BUTTON POSITIONING MEANS ARRANGED BOTH FOR TRANSPORTING A REGULATING RAIL BUTTON INTO LATERAL JUXTAPOSITION WITH ONE OF SAID ARCUATELY SPACED POSITIONS AND FOR SUPPORTING THE TRANSPORTED BUTTON AGAINST THE THRUST OF AN ENTERING EYE SCREW; EYE SCREW MOUNTING MEANS ARRANGED BOTH FOR DELIVERING AN EYE SCREW INTO ALIGNMENT WITH THE TERMINAL POSITION OF THE TRANSPORTED BUTTON AND FOR DRIVING THE DELIVERED EYE SCREW INTO THE RAIL ELEMENT AT A SAID PILOT HOLE AND INTO THE TRANSPORTED BUTTON; AND FELT MOUNTING MEANS ALIGNED WITH ONE OF SAID ARCUATELY SPACED POSI TIONS INCLUDING FELT PAD DELIVERING MEANS, ADHESIVE APPLYING MEANS AND A PRESS MEMBER COOPERATING TO SECURE FELT PADS TO THE REGULATING RAIL BUTTONS. 